1. Field
The following description relates to a vehicle instrument panel apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a vehicle instrument panel apparatus for enabling a widget and application content to be transferred and shared between a mobile terminal and a vehicle instrument panel, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Background
In recent vehicle development trends, an interest in and importance on an external design and an infotainment system of a vehicle have increased in addition to the most essential mobility and high-quality riding comfort of the vehicle. The infotainment system and its component functions have emerged as an obvious identity between vehicle brands.
An owner of a vehicle desires to use the vehicle for commuting on weekdays and for a family outing on weekends. An unmarried vehicle owner wants the vehicle which provides a high-performance function or good moods. Thus, the desire of the vehicle owner wanting to own one or more other vehicles is satisfied to a certain extent with tuning of an external appearance. The vehicle owner desires to have a vehicle differentiated from the same model of vehicles. However, it is difficult to make a change in the interior of the vehicle through the tuning of the external appearance of the vehicle.
However, under a situation in which the recent technical development trends related to vehicle information and communication technology (ICT) convergence are coupling and cooperation of an application with a mobile device (a smartphone, a pad, or an integrated tablet personal computer (PC), or the like), the desires of the vehicle owners who want to decorate their own unique interiors in at least the interior of the vehicle may be satisfied with the implementation of a head-up display (HUD) function using a mobile device application, a vehicle cooperation system using a mobile device, or a combination with ICT using a mobile device for a function control.
Under a situation in which the vehicle owner using the mobile device wants to use a vehicle with a design or function reflecting his/her own preference in combination with ICT convenient from the viewpoint of a driver, an infotainment technology concept may be combined with cloud application service technology or the like through convergence of vehicle-ICT technology in a so-called smart car concept.
In case of the interior of the vehicle, a vehicle instrument panel is generally installed at a position in the front of a driver's seat according to a type, arrangement, and design of instruments designed and set by a vehicle manufacturer in advance. The vehicle instrument panel includes an odometer indicating a running speed of the vehicle and traveling distance information (a possible traveling distance and a total traveled distance), a speedometer of revolutions per minute (RPM) of the vehicle engine, a fuel gauge, an oil pressure gauge, a water temperature gauge, gear shift information, traveling selection mode (sports mode, comfort mode, etc.) information, operation state indications/alarm information of various devices, and the like.
A display type of the vehicle instrument panel is classified into an analog type and a digital type. In case of the vehicle instrument panel using only the analogy type using an indicator or an indication lamp, there is a disadvantage in that only a fixed design and limited information set by a vehicle manufacturer are given regardless of a driver's preference.
The digital type is a type in which an indication is represented by numerical characters or text. Even in the instrument panel to which only the digital type is applied or a combination of the analog and digital schemes is applied, only a design form and information set by a vehicle manufacturer are provided to the driver.
That is, there is a problem in that the vehicle instrument panel to which a concept of the existing analog and digital types is applied has a fixed form, the driver is easily bored with the limited and fixed design and information when the instrument panel is used for a long time, and the driver's preference is not reflected in the instrument panel.
Recently, a liquid crystal display part has been added or extended and applied to the vehicle instrument panel, so that vehicle state information has been provided in several colors and forms preset by the vehicle manufacturer, and some operation screen elements in cooperation with navigation have been represented in the liquid crystal display part.
However, because there are provided a design and information input and set by the vehicle manufacturer in advance regardless of the driver's preference, it is difficult to satisfy the desire of the driver who wants to decorate at least the interior of the vehicle through a combination of ICT. Also, it is difficult to change the overall design of the instrument panel including a partial liquid crystal display widely used in the vehicle without physically changing a vehicle structure. The instrument panel including the partial liquid crystal display provides only limited safe driving information and state information of the vehicle.
This means that it is difficult to simultaneously display all driving-related information that should be provided to a specific driver. Thus, because this causes the driver to operate a device in motion, there is a problem in that the driver's eyes are distracted and the safety and efficiency of the driving are reduced, resulting in limitation of compatibility with a mutual interaction technology application between a vehicle and a driver using a mobile device (a smartphone, a pad, or an integrated tablet PC, or the like) most widely available to drivers in the ICT field.